Forget "Get in the hole!" and other gallery favorites. If fans really want to encourage Tiger Woods on Sunday, they should continually whisper "TGIF!"

Maybe it will subliminally rewire Woods' chronological thinking. Based on his 2012 season, that's the best chance he has to win the Deutsche Bank Championships and reclaim his prominence in the FedEx Cup chase.

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After Saturday's 68, Woods is back where he once liked to be. He's tied for third, two shots behind Rory McIlroy. Tiger's mere shadow lurking over the weekend used to make the leaderboard quake.

Now McIlroy and others play Catch Me If You Can. And the guy who made the red shirt famous on Sundays has more often come out in a clown suit.

In 15 stroke-play tournaments, Woods has been in the top 10 seven times after 36 holes. He has won two of those events.

He leads the PGA Tour with three wins overall, so 2012 will still go down as a pretty good comeback year. But it would have been the greatest return since Gen. MacArthur if Tiger had closed a few more weekend deals.

The majors were especially perplexing. Woods didn't blow a chance at The Masters, but only because he shot a 75 on Friday. Otherwise, he was poised to pounce after every other 36-hole stop.

He was tied for the lead at the U.S. Open, and then shot a 75 on Saturday. He opened with two 67s at the British Open, and then went 70-73. At the PGA Championship he went 72-76 on the weekend and didn't know what to think.

"I was trying to enjoy it, but that's not how I play," he said. "I play full systems go, all-out, intense."

It's all part of the "Is Tiger Back?" recalibration. At 36, he's trying to find a swing, consistency, attitude and overall mojo that made him what he was. For whatever reason—age, nerves, confidence, competitors becoming immune to the color red—Tiger's search usually wanders into rough, trees and ponds on the weekend.

Last week at The Barclays was more post-36-hole misery, with a 76 on Sunday. This is where the Deutsche Bank, at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass., provides a weird twist. Thanks to Labor Day, it begins on Friday and concludes Monday. So Sunday is really Saturday on the golf calendar.

There's no telling what it will be in Tiger's head. He opened with a 64 on Friday, which was his lowest score since the 2009 AT&T National. The round was highlighted by six straight birdies, which was amazing even by Old Tiger standards. Saturday was more pedestrian thanks to an erratic putter.

"Overall, not too bad," Woods said. "I hit it good. Got to do a little more work on what we're working on."

He didn't share what's on the list. But the ultimate goal is to become the weekend warrior of old.

The way things have been going, pretending it's not the weekend couldn't hurt.